An electronic chassis which houses electronic components for high speed telecommunication and networking applications typically includes a plurality of vertically oriented circuit board assemblies that are inserted into the chassis. Each circuit board assembly is typically comprised of a circuit board attached to a U-shaped channel member that serves as a front faceplate of the assembly. When the assembly is fully inserted, the circuit board is connected to a backplane printed circuit located along the backside of the chassis. The insertion force required to connect the circuit board to the backplane may make it difficult, if not impossible, for a user to make the connection by manually forcing the channel member in a direction towards the backplane.
In order to facilitate the connection of the circuit board to the backplane, attempts have been made to provide a mechanical connector at each end of the channel member, each mechanical connector having a handle portion and a hook portion. The mechanical connectors are typically rotatably attached to each end of the channel member and are able to rotate freely about a pin that is attached to the channel member. When installing the circuit board assembly, a user typically orients each hook portion to allow each hook portion to engage a flange portion of the chassis. After each hook portion engages the flange portion, the handle portion of each mechanical connector is then manually rotated about the pin, which forces the circuit board into the backplane. The handle portion typically has a generally rectangular-shape having a smooth surface along its outer surface. In order to rotate the handle portion, a user applies a load to the smooth outer surface of the handle portion. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the smooth surface may cause the user's fingers to slip off the handle portion during actuation of the handle portion. Moreover, the handle portion typically does not have a designated area along its outer surface to provide the optimum location for the user's fingers to make contact with handle portion. As a result, a user may apply a load to the handle portion at a location that is closer to the pivot point of the mechanical connector. This in turn may result in greater loads having to be applied to the handle portion making insertion of the circuit board assembly into the chassis more difficult, if not impossible.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a circuit board ejector that overcomes the disadvantages described above.